I used the largest size Ribba frame from IKEA for this project and I took out the matte so I could use the entire frame size, which is massive, and holds 48 4x4 prints. For the white background, I used two poster boards taped together. I'll show you how I did it.
Without the matte, the frame can hold a picture that measures 27 1/2 inches by 39 1/4 inches. The poster boards measure at 22x28 inches, each, so I cut one of them down to 17 1/4 inches leaving it 28 inches long on the other side. Then I lined up the two edges together (the 28 inch long side) and once they were right up next to each other and lined up evenly, I used clear packing tape to hold them together. I taped all the way across and around the edges on both sides.
I wanted the prints to be laid out in a grid with even spacing, so this required some math. Rather than making you do that yourself, I'll just give you my measurements that I used. The first print started at 1/8th of an inch from the top and 9/16ths of an inch from the side. From there, the prints that were on the same row all measured a half inch between them. The next row was then placed one inch down so that there was an inch between each of the rows. I've included a diagram to help those of you who are more visual.
Before I was able to fit the poster board into the frame, I did have to trim a small amount from each side on the longest side, about 1/8th of an inch on each. So make sure you do that after, otherwise your measurements will be off just a tiny bit. Or, if you want to do it before hand, make sure after cutting that you take that much off from the placement measurements on each side, so instead of measuring in at 9/16ths of an inch, you'll be at 7/16ths of an inch. Never thought fractions could apply in the real world? Yeah, I was wrong too!
To make the process go faster, I did the first row all the away across the top, then I did the first print for each row all the way to the bottom. From there, all I had to do was use my ruler to make sure that every print was a half inch apart from the one before it within its' own row.
This really helped and I was able to get the photos taped onto the poster board fairly quickly. I just used two small pieces of tape on the back that way I can go back and replace pictures with more recent ones as time goes on. That's part of why I love this so much, the pictures are easily interchangeable.
I love the way it turned out so much and my husband and kids do too. It's their favorite thing I've made so far and they love to look at the pictures and relive the fun memories. I'm planning on doing two more to use up the rest of the prints I have; well actually I'll have about 16 leftover, but like I said, they're interchangeable, so I'm sure they'll eventually make their way in.
